BEIJING, Jan 16: India, China and Russia today agreed that Afghanistan’s stability and security are important to the region against the backdrop of US plan to remove its troops from the war-torn country, raising fears of the reemergence of Taliban and other al-Qaeda linked elements.
The trilateral meeting of the three major emerging powers in the region followed the first India-China dialogue on Afghanistan held here last year to discuss mutual concerns and ideas to address problems emanating from US troop withdrawal.
“The three sides exchanged views on the situation in Afghanistan and agreed that security in Afghanistan is important to the country and the region,” officials said here about the talks.
“They reiterated support for a strong, united, stable, peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan. They also agreed to meet again,” the officials said.
Deputy National Security Advisor Nehchal Sandhu led the Indian delegation at the talks.
Like India, China too concerned over the reemergence of al Qaeda and its likely impact on Muslim Uygur majority Xinjiang province, which borders Afghanistan and Pakistan-Occupied- Kashmir.
China is battling a major separatist movement led by the East Trukistan Islamic Movement (ETIM), an al-Qaeda affiliate group, in the province.
China, which looks to play a major role in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of US troops, has invested in mines as well as infrastructure development there.
Replying to a question on today’s meeting, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hong Lei said, “The development of situation in Afghanistan is closely related to the peace and stability in the region”.
“China is ready to work together with all relevant parties to take part in the peaceful reconstruction and reconciliation in Afghanistan, so as to jointly maintain peace and stability,” Hong said.
China has held similar trilateral meeting with Pakistan and Russia last year exploring opportunities to coordinate their positions and discussed the cooperation under the aegis of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), in which both China and Russia are active members while India and Pakistan are observers.
Despite being a close ally of Pakistan, which wield influence on Taliban, China expanded the scope of its talks with India and Russia besides the US to draw up its plans to deal with the emerging situation.
Asked to elaborate what China looks to achieve through the trilateral meeting, Hong said, “We hold the meeting with relevant parties with the purpose of jointly maintaining regional peace and stability because the situation in Afghanistan closely related to peace stability.”
With the regard to situation in Afghanistan China supported Afghan side’s efforts to maintain sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence, he said.
“We also support the Afghan people in choosing the path of development in accordance with the national situation and Afghanistan in improving its relations with countries in the region,” he said.
China hopes that substantial progress will be made in the reconciliation process led by Afghan people, he said. “We hope that all relevant parties will respect legitimate concerns of the countries in the region.”
He said China plans to hold Foreign Minister-level meetings with concerned countries and will continue to play role in the reconciliation process in Afghanistan. (AGENCIES)
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